Don't Mess With the Dixons
by Bride of Insanity
Summary: Trix Dixon has been following her brothers around her whole life. At 30 yrs old, she's the youngest of the Dixons. Life for her means sticking with her brothers and keeping the three of them alive but will that eventually change? Trix doesn't think so. Even in the apocalypse her brothers mean everything to her and she doubts that anyone can or will ever change that.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was too hot. The bugs were annoying. The damn animals were taking too long to wander into their kill zone. Merle was complaining about anything and everything he could think of, probably scaring off any game within half a mile. He was being just louder than a whisper on purpose, trying to cut the hunting trip short by making too much noise. Daryl was annoyed but he wasn't going to say anything. Trix was though cause dammit she'd come out there to hunt and the youngest Dixon wasn't afraid of Merle or his anger.

"Merle, shut up before I make you shut up." Trix whispered harshly to her brother. Daryl gave her a look that basically said "you've gone and done it now." Trix decided to ignore him. Merle didn't hit her like their old man did. He just yelled and threw her around a bit. The only time he ever actually hit her was when he slugged her arm to get back at her for annoying him. The worst he'd ever done out of anger was slam her against a wall. Even Merle with all his anger problems wouldn't hurt his little sister.

"What did you say?" Merle asked angrily, glaring at her.

Trix was about to reply when Daryl shushed them. Merle and Trix were going to tell him off until they saw him pointing to something coming out of the trees. Trix grinned when she saw it was a buck. A very big buck that'd probably feed them for a week if they were careful about portions. Daryl took aim, his finger on the trigger of his crossbow. He was about to shoot when this big skinny guy covered in blood came silently out of the trees. Trix stared in shock as the guy attacked the buck without warning, diggings his hands into the deer's stomach as it bit straight into the poor beast's neck.

"What the fuck?" Daryl asked no one in particular. The guy was eating the fucking deer! Raw! With his bare hands! What type of fucked up person did that?! Was that where all the blood on the guy had come from? His last kill? Jesus fucking Christ. "What the fuck is that thing?" Daryl asked. And oh yes it was definitely a _thing_. No regular person did something like that.

"Let's go find out." Merle said, already getting up from where they were crouched down in the bushes. Trix cursed as she got up too, mentally scolding her brother for making stupid rash decisions. Daryl got up too, not voicing his opinion. He wanted to convince Merle not to but there wasn't point in doing so. Merle was already about half way to the thing and Daryl didn't feel like putting up with his brother's temper.

As they got closer the Dixon siblings noticed more things about the bloody creature. For instance, they knew where all the blood had come from. There was a large chunk of its throat ripped out and its organs were spilling out of a huge hole in its torso. That didn't bother the Dixon siblings too much but the fact that the thing looked exactly like their next door neighbor certainly did. He was a buddy of Merle's and a decent enough person to the two younger Dixons even if he was a junkie with barely two bucks to his name. So of course Merle's first reaction was to call out his buddy's name.

The thing looked up at them, its hands full of deer guts and its mouth full of flesh. It struggled to its feet, dropping the guts it had been eating. Then it started walking towards them, towards Merle who was looking at the thing resembling his friend with a subdued bit of shock, confusion, and disgust. Trix and Daryl glanced at each other, both troubled by the fact the thing that looked human was limping and moaning and looking like it really should be dead. Daryl started to raise his crossbow and Trix reached for one of the arrows in the quiver on her back.

"Hey Marcus! You look uglier than usual you scrawny bastard!" Merle said jokingly as the thing got closer to him. It was reaching for him, moaning and groaning even louder than before. For once, Merle took a step back instead of forward. Then that thing rushed forward, its teeth aiming for Merle's neck. "Fuck Marcus! What the fuck are you doin' man?!" Merle shouted, shoving the thing away from him. Merle retreated as the thing stumbled backwards, placing himself just behind Trix. There was a new gash across the thing's chest; Merle had had his hunting knife in his hand when he shoved the thing away. Still, the thing came at them. "Daryl, shoot this bastard." Merle ordered his brother as the thing started coming at them again.

Daryl immediately did as he was told, sending an arrow straight into the thing's chest. It stopped for a moment, its body absorbing the impact, but kept coming. Right at Trix.

Trix threw her bow up as the thing got closer, placing her bow between it and her. It ran straight into it, holding its arms out as it tried to grab her. Trix tried to shove it away but instead she slipped on the mud beneath her feet, falling on her back and accidentally bringing the thing down with her. It landed directly on top of her but Trix managed to shove her bow between its teeth before it could bite her. That didn't stop it from trying to claw her open though. "Get it off me!" Trix shouted furiously as its nails tried to rip a hole in her hunting jacket.  
Merle complied, kicking the thing in the chest so that it fell off of Trix. Daryl slammed his boot down on its chest and placed an arrow between its eyes. That actually seemed to kill it too because it stopped moving completely and didn't try to get back up when Daryl stepped away from it. Trix scrambled to her feet and immediately slammed her boot into the thing's side, the fear that had been growing inside her since the thing came out of the trees quickly becoming anger.

"He looks like one of those things the news keeps mentionin'. Those people or whatever that start eatin' everybody." Daryl said, yanking his arrow out of the thing's chest.

Merle hummed slightly, leaning forward to look at what was once one of his friends. "Well Marcus always was one messed up son of a bitch. It was about time he did somethin' like this." He said, laughing a bit like he'd just told a really good joke. He hasn't but that was how Merle was. He thought he was one of the funniest men on the planet.

"We should get back." Trix said, wiping the thing's spit off of her bow and onto her jacket. Daryl and Merle looked at her, the former claiming his second arrow from the thing's skull. "To make sure there aren't any more of these things gettin' in our place." She explained.

Merle shrugged but turned and started heading back towards their place. His siblings followed after him, Daryl reloading his crossbow and Trix notching an arrow. Something told them they had to be cautious. If there was one of those things around then there was probably another. They were right too. When they emerged out of the trees into their back yard they spotted a few across the street, ripping apart their neighbor. People were running, screaming, getting into their vehicles and going. The Dixon siblings wasted no time in getting into their home and locking their doors.

"We need to get the hell out of here." Daryl said, stating the obvious. He was looking out at the street through their piece of crap blinds, getting a good view of the chaos going on outside. They didn't live in a big town, the mountains of North Georgia didn't exactly accommodate big towns, so there weren't a lot of people but there were enough for it all to seem a bit crazy.

"Change and pack your shit. We're takin' the truck and my bike." Merle said, heading for his room.

Trix looked to Daryl; feeling like one of them should keep an eye on what was happening. "Move quick. I'll keep watch till you're ready." Daryl told her without taking his eyes off of outside. Trix nodded and immediately rushed into the room she had been sharing with Daryl since they were kids.

It took twenty minutes total for them to pack everything they were taking into the truck and into Merle's saddlebags. They had to put down four of their neighbors when they came at them and tried to bite them. Daryl was the one who retrieved the arrows while Trix ran back into the house to double check that they had everything. When she came back out Merle was with her and she was carrying a freshly bloodied arrow.

"One got in through the back, that door's always been shitty. We need to go. Now." Trix said as they walked towards their vehicles. Merle hopped onto his bike while Daryl started up the truck and Trix climbed into the passenger seat. Merle drove off and his siblings followed him, no thoughts in their heads but survival.


	2. Chapter 2

It'd been a week. They were running out of supplies and still hadn't reached Atlanta thanks to all the fucking traffic and dead things getting in the way. It was just a quick drive away now though and the younger Dixons were completely ready to be there where it was safe. Merle didn't want to go there just yet. He wanted to have one last hit of the drugs he'd snuck out of the house without their knowledge of it before they were possibly taken away from him at the military base in Atlanta. Trix didn't like it and neither did Daryl. They managed to convince Merle not to get high until after they went hunting, hoping to use the time out there to convince him to just head into the city. They really did try too, in whispers of course.

"I said no." Merle whispered harshly, glaring at his siblings. They were following the tracks of a small herd of deer that they'd probably never catch up to. Daryl had just picked those tracks cause he had hoped to give them plenty of time for talking to Merle.

"It's not smart Merle. We might not get a chance to go tomorrow." Daryl said, never taking his eyes off the ground.

"Listen, numb nuts, I'm in charge and I said we're stayin' out another night." Merle asked much too loudly. Trix shushed her brother furiously, glaring at him. She'd heard something behind them that didn't sound human. Daryl heard it too and stopped. He pointed his crossbow into the trees, ready."Don't you fuckin' shush me. I'll beat the shit out of you." Merle continued, even louder. His voice was masking the sound of whatever was near them.

Trix did the first thing that came to mind. She drew back her bowstring and pointed an arrow right at Merle's head. "Shut up Merle!" She ordered him, growling slightly. He did was he was told but there was rage in his eyes that promised Trix was going to pay. Trix watched him for half a moment before turning and pointing her arrow towards the noises that were most definitely the dead.

Three of them came out of the trees. Two went down at the same time, Daryl and Trix letting loose their arrows at the same time. Trix put down the third, able to pull out another arrow and shoot without trouble. She was grinning in triumph and about to go retrieve her arrows when Merle stopped her. He grabbed her by the front of the shirt and slammed her into a tree, his arm coming up to press down on her neck and keep her in place. His knife came up and he pointed it at her face. "Merle!" Daryl shouted, taking a step forward like he was about to rush over and fling Merle away from Trix. He'd had to a couple of times and not just in the past week. Merle had always had a temper and sometimes he lost it just a bit too much with Trix. He'd come close to seriously hurting her before. Luckily Daryl had always pulled him away before anything really bad could happen to Trix.

"You stay right there little brother." Merle said, eerily calm. Daryl didn't move, unsure now as to what Merle was going to do. Calm either meant a very vicious beating or a really mean threat. Merle glanced at his brother, making sure he stayed put, before turning his full attention on their sister who was glaring up at him maliciously. He pointed the knife at her, the tip aimed for her eye. "You ever point a fuckin' arrow at me again and you'll regret it. I'll beat you till you see God himself before givin' you a pretty little scar as a reminder. You got that?" Merle said, speaking calmly but seriously. Trix didn't answer, too busy being pissed off at being threatened to reply. Merle pressed his arm down on her neck, a clear sign that if she didn't answer she'd be in all sorts of trouble.

"Yes, Merle." Trix replied angrily, struggling a little to speak with Merle's arm pressed down on her throat.

The oldest Dixon seemed satisfied with this answer because he released Trix, shoving away from her and walking back to where he'd been standing before. Trix glared after him, desperately wanting to kick his ass but knowing it wouldn't end well for her. Daryl didn't say a word, just grabbed the three arrows they'd shot and wiped some of the blood off onto his shirt. None of them spoke as Daryl reloaded his crossbow and tucked Trix's arrows into her quiver. Trix was mentally listing all the reasons attacking Merle would not be a good idea while Merle thought of his drugs and how he seriously needed a break from the shitty ass world around them. Daryl was the only one thinking about Atlanta which wasn't a good thing. They needed to be focusing on their next move. Daryl was about to remind his siblings of their previous conversation when they heard rustling. Again.

It wasn't a group of those things this time though. It was people. Honest to God people. They hadn't spotted living ones in days so it was a bit surprising and actually a bit pleasing to see real people coming towards them. The Dixon siblings relaxed slightly but not completely. They'd never actually trusted people before the world went to shit and they weren't about to start. Trix and Daryl pointed their arrows at the ground but were completely ready to use them. Merle lowered his hunting knife but didn't put it away.

"Well look what we have here." Merle said, quietly sizing up there other men. One was a cop if his hat was anything to go by, another was a skinny guy with quite a bit of scruff, and the third was an Asian kid. Cop and skinny guy had guns and bats but the Asian kid only had a bat. The Dixon siblings could take them out pretty easily if Daryl and Trix took out the gun users first. "A greetin' party! Glad our piss poor government cares so much about its strugglin' citizens." Merle joked in his usual carefree sarcastic as hell way.

Cop exchanged looks with Skinny and Asian Kid. "We're not from the government." Cop told them. It was obvious he was the leader by the way he was standing and the way the other guys kept glancing at him. Trix almost laughed; of course a pig would be in charge.

"Are you headed to Atlanta then? Cause if you are then you're headin' the wrong way." Trix said, her eyes darting all over the cop. She was trying to decide who would be the best choice to fight him if they somehow got his gun away from him without killing him. Daryl maybe but Merle would be a better choice. Daryl could take out Skinny pretty easily and knocking down Asian kid wouldn't be a problem for Trix.

"We've got a camp up the ways from here. We came down here when we heard honking." Cop explained. Trix hummed an old rock song Merle used to play around the house as she mentally mapped out how far their camp was. They'd found a dirt side road that had led to a long dead camping grounds and had stopped at the end. That had been about seven hours ago, they'd been moving since with no animal spottings (except squirrel which Merle had refused to eat if they caught any. He was being picky, wanting a good dinner to go along with his last hit.) That meant their camp was probably far up, it wouldn't have taken them so long to reach them otherwise. "I don't suggest heading to Atlanta. It's overrun. There's no one waiting there to help." Cop told them.

Trix felt her dream of having a peaceful night's sleep soon completely shatter. There was no safe place for them now, no place to rest. Daryl cursed and Merle pressed his lips into a thin angry line. "That's fuckin' great. We could have been out of this fuckin' state by now if we'd had known." Trix said furiously. She turned around and kicked a tree, hard, and cursed as she did it. She turned back to Merle, ignoring the pain in her foot. "What now, brother mine? What the fuck do we do now?" Trix demanded to know.

"Trix, calm down. We'll figure it out." Daryl said, trying to assure his sister into believing they weren't totally screwed.

The three men across from them seemed to be having a silent conversation. By the time the Dixons noticed, Cop was already turning back to therm. "Can you hunt?" He asked them.

"We can. Used to do it for fun before everythin' went to shit." Daryl said, swinging his crossbow so that it was resting against his back. Trix took that to mean she could relax a little and she did, placing her arrow back into her quiver and relaxing her grip on her bow slightly.

Cop glanced at his buddies one last time before turning his full attention on the Dixon siblings. "We could use hunters." He said simply.

Merle looked back at his siblings who were waiting for him to make the decision. He had always made the decision on whether or not they went one way or another. The wheels in Merle's head were spinning as he thought about what to do. He smiled when he turned back to the men. "Looks like you got yourself some hunters, boys." He told them cheerfully, grinning in a way that the other Dixons knew meant trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

The camp was bigger than the Dixons' originally thought. There were a lot more people there than they thought possible in the apocalypse. They were introduced to everyone but soon forgot about half of their names. It didn't really matter. They weren't very social, the Dixons, so not knowing a name or two didn't really affect them. They all remembered Shane's name though. He was the leader of the group and the most dangerous threat to the siblings if anything should ever happen.

Trix was, reluctantly, the chattiest of the three siblings. It didn't matter how many times she made it clear she didn't want to talk, people still started up conversations with her. They did it to Daryl too but since he was usually off checking on their junkie brother he didn't have to deal with it that often. Merle was lucky, he was disliked so much that no one ever spoke to him except Shane and that was only to give orders that Merle usually ignored.

"Daryl better get his fuckin' ass back here and help or I'm gonna beat him." Trix said to no one in particular one day while skinning some rabbits they'd shot. Carol and Andrea were with her, helping but not by much. Neither was very good at the job but had gotten better under Trix's instruction. The youngest Dixon had to admit that it was kind of nice being able to interact with people like this again. Teaching about hunting and all the bits that came with it always had put her in a pretty good mood.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Carol said gently. She was so soft spoken that Trix almost couldn't stand it. Of course, she knew why she was like that. Her bastard of a husband beat the shit out of her any chance he got. Trix had a feeling he did worse than that and not just to Carol but to their little girl too. Trix wanted to beat the hell out of the man and she would too if Daryl hadn't taken her aside and convinced her not to. When he mentioned how Merle was already close to getting them kicked out of the camp and how her fighting could make the decision she'd readily agreed to keep silent. She didn't want to end up back on their own, unable to sleep safely at night. Still, she kept an eye out for Carol and Sophia and helped them as much as she could without alerting Merle or any of the others to what she was doing. Merle would definitely beat her if he found out she was helping other people outside the family. He'd call her weak. A sheep.

Trix huffed and tossed a freshly skinned rabbit into the bucket beside her. They'd cut them up and cook them later, probably into rabbit and some type of mushroom mush. Mush was about the only thing these definite city people knew how to cook. "He better. I'm not teachin' you how to cook rabbit without a little help." Trix said, grabbing the last rabbit out of the burlap sack they'd all been temporarily kept in. That was exactly when Ed, Carol's husband, decided to make the biggest mistake ever and make a comment about women's work. Trix's temper and pride wouldn't let her ignore an insult like that. She spun around and glared at Ed who was sitting on his lazy ass not far off smoking another damn cigarette. "What did you say?" Trix asked the bastard, anger apparent.

"Don't. Please." Carol whispered. She was desperate, pleading with Trix. The youngest Dixon would have listened to her too if Ed hadn't been such an idiot.

"None of your business, bitch." Ed told her. He'd been stewing in anger since that morning when Shane told him he had to give away some of his supplies to the more needy members of the camp. He had yet to take his anger out on Carol or Sophia so he was quick to snap at Trix.

"What did you just call me ya piece of shit?!" Trix shouted furiously. She tossed the rabbit and her knife down onto the empty sack before shooting to her feet. She stormed over to Ed who was on his feet in a second and looming over her in the next. "You listen to me big man; I don't take shit from no one. Least of all a dickhead like you." Trix growled up at the man, glaring as viciously as she could which was pretty damn vicious. She'd grown up with Merle and Daryl as her teachers on how to be tough, on how to survive, so she knew exactly how to make herself look terrifying. Trix found herself extremely glad they'd never put her down just for being female and for always treating her as an equal…more or less. "So I suggest you shut the fuck up before I get violent." The youngest Dixon warned the man.

Ed blew cigarette smoke into her face. Trix pretended not to be affected but inside her head she was screaming with anger. She couldn't stand smoke being blown into her face. Her mother had done that to her thousands of times before when she was being bitchy and mean to Trix and Daryl. Never Merle though, he'd been her favorite. "You better stop acting brave. I'm about ready to beat some respect into your stuck up ass." Ed said angrily, glaring down at her.

"Bring it!" Trix shouted furiously. She was done with playing nice, Daryl's words be damned. It didn't matter to her if they got kicked out if it meant she got to kick this dick's ass. She'd been itching for a fight for days, needing an outlet for all of her pent up aggression and aggravation. "I'm serious! Hit me! Or are you too much of a pussy?" Trix shouted, challenging him.

Ed actually did as he was told for once. He swung his fist, aiming to hit her across the face, but he never touched her. Merle and Daryl came out of nowhere, the former grabbing the man's wrist while the latter pushed Trix protectively behind his back. Neither Dixon brother had his weapon of choice on him but that didn't mean they weren't ready to kill the bastard. "Now you might want to stop and think for a second on whatcha gonna do next." Merle told Ed calmly, his grip on the man's wrist deadly tight. Ed tried to break free but Merle wasn't going to let him go. "See if I let go of your wrist and you hit my sister you're not gonna live to see tomorrow. But if I let go of your wrist and you run your stupid lazy ass back to your tent I'll let you live." Trix almost chuckled; Merle was being almost cheerful as he threatened the man.

"And if you don't go back to your tent I'm gonna put an arrow in your ass." Daryl added furiously despite the fact that his crossbow and Trix's bow were all the way back at their tent.

"Merle! Daryl!" Shane shouted, finally approaching them. Everyone in the camp was watching them; each worried in their own way. "That's enough! Leave Ed alone!" Shane ordered the Dixon brothers.

That pissed all three of the Dixons off severely but it was only Daryl who spoke. "This fat bastard tried to hit our sister and you expect us to leave him alone?!" He shouted furiously. There was no way he was going to let Ed get away with this. He didn't even care how the argument had started, no one but him or Merle was allowed to hit Trix and they didn't even do that really.

"Your sister started it." Shane said, as if he thought that fact would change their opinion on beating Ed.

Trix made an angry sound in the back of her throat. "To hell I did!" She shouted at Shane, taking a step towards the leader of their ragamuffin group. Shane's hand twitched towards the gun at his hip, stopping Trix from moving forward again. Even she knew better than to keep moving when Shane was prepared to shoot. "He started it!" Trix shouted, pointing a furious finger at Ed without looking at him.

"What are you? A little kid?" Shane asked, sounding more angry than amused.

"He did!" Trix insisted furiously. "He made a comment about women's work! This ain't no fuckin' women's work!" She shouted. Daryl and Merle exchanged looks, understanding now why their sister was so mad. One thing that always pissed Trix off was being treated like she was less than others. Didn't matter if it was a guy or gal making her feel like that, she'd get mad no matter what. Trix turned to Ed and got as into his face as she could with Daryl in the way. "This is survival. We're all Walker bait which makes us equals. Till you get that through your thick skull I ain't feedin' you shit. I'll make sure you get as little food as possible you stupid son of a bitch." She practically snarled at the idiot in front of her.

Trix stood there, glaring up at Ed, for a moment before enough of her anger had left that she could take a step back. Merle released Ed's wrist and Daryl relaxed slightly, taking a half step back. Trix barely noticed them as she continued to glare at Ed. It took her a moment before she was calm enough to turn around and start walking back to a distressed looking Carol and an on edge Andrea. "Stupid cunt." Ed said as she walked off.

The man was an idiot.

Merle slammed his fist into Ed's stomach, making him double over in pain. Daryl lifted up his leg and kicked Ed right where Merle had punched him. The big man fell backwards on his ass with a loud grunt. Then Merle was on top of Ed, punching him repeatedly. Trix watched it with an uncaring look on her face but inside she was grinning wildly. She was very disappointed when Shane, T-Dog, and Jim managed to yank Merle off of Ed after only two punches. Daryl protested furiously but Trix placed her hand on his shoulder, telling him getting mad wasn't worth it.

"Enough Merle! Enough!" Shane shouted when Merle continued to struggle.

"You don't call my sister that, man. Not _my_ sister." Merle said, surprisingly calm for how much he was struggling. Trix shot him a thankful look that no one but her brothers noticed. Merle didn't nod back but Daryl grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it, acknowledging her thanks for their brother. Shane glanced over at Trix and Daryl and Trix simply smirked back, earning a disapproving look from Shane.

"I get that. It was disrespectful but you're not gonna beat him to death just because he insulted your sister." Shane told Merle, using the calm even tone of a leader. Trix thought having a good leader was important and she was glad an at least slightly level headed person like Shane was their leader but she still didn't like him. She knew what he and Lori did when they both disappeared and it didn't sit right with her. Her husband hadn't been dead that long and their son wasn't done grieving, she shouldn't be going at it with a guy. Especially not with the man who was once her deceased husband's best friend.

Merle scoffed, still trying to get loose but without hurting any of the men holding onto him. Merle was the type of guy who punched those who pissed him off but not the ones who pulled him away, the ones that didn't make him mad. "To hell with that man! He deserves it!" He said angrily, frowning deeply. He was half on the ground thanks to Shane but Ed was standing and looking incredibly pissed. Carol was beside him but looking at him fearfully. Trix instantly felt bad, hoping the poor woman wouldn't be beat for this. "Not just for this either! He's a lazy ugly son of a bitch! I'd be doing the world a favor getting' rid of him!" Merle continued.

Ed took a furious step forward, like he was going to go for Merle, but then he stopped and just looked pissed. It might have been because both Trix and Daryl stepped forward to kick his ass if he got too close to their brother but Trix didn't think that was it. All the guys she had ever known that beat on women and children were too much of pussies to get into a fight with another guy. Especially another guy that was built like Merle. He could kick Ed's ass, easy.

Shane glared viciously at Ed for a moment until he was sure the other man wasn't going to do anything stupid. Then he glared back down at Merle. "Stop now or you're leaving. I'll kick you out of this camp if you punch Ed again or fight with anyone else. Got it?" Shane told the still struggling Dixon.

Trix paled, feeling fear settle in her stomach. She quickly turned the fear into anger though and her face turned a light red. Daryl clenched his hand into a tight fist and accidentally squeezed down on Trix's shoulder just a bit too hard. She didn't wince though, too busy glaring at Shane. He was serious! He was going to kick Merle out! Trix was pissed. Just because of a fight that dick cop was going to send them away!? Into a world of Walkers where they could easily die! Probably without supplies too. The fucking dick. Trix waited for Merle to make a move and relaxed without meaning to when Merle glanced their way and stopped struggling. Trix was unbelievably relieved that they weren't going to be forced back into the cruel world without supplies and a bit proud of her brother for putting their safety ahead of his anger.

"Let go of me." Merle ordered the men still holding onto him. T-Dog and Jim looked to Shane, waiting for him to give them the order. Shane nodded to them and cautiously let go of Merle. The others followed suit and soon Merle was on his feet. "Damn people being a bunch of pussies. Just a fight. Wouldn't do much harm." He grumbled but there was barely any heat behind his words. He walked over to his sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders before turning his eyes on Ed. The man was still glaring at the oldest Dixon sibling, egging on a fight that he would never win. Merle glared at the man and Trix wondered if he was changing his mind about not fighting the idiot. But then Merle just scoffed and turned away, pulling Trix with him. "Not worth our time, baby brother. Come on." Merle told Daryl over his shoulder.

"Don't wander off too far." Shane said as the three Dixons started to walk away. "We're having a meeting in a few minutes." He told them.

Trix patted both of her brothers on their shoulders before detaching herself and heading back to skin the last rabbit. Andrea sat back down and started finishing skinning her own rabbit, shooting a slight glare over at Trix as she did. Trix ignored her, focused more on Carol who had been given permission by Ed to come back and work. Trix hated that she had to get permission from that man to do anything but she didn't say a word. They were going to get kicked out if she started another fight with Ed, she knew that. She gave the woman an apologetic look when she knew none of the others would see it before going back to skinning the last rabbit. Carol seemed very surprised.

A few minutes later, after all the rabbits had been skinned, Shane called a group meeting. They all wandered over and Shane started talking about being low on supplies and needing more than just Glenn going out and getting stuff. Glenn didn't seem very happy about taking people with him but he didn't protest. People volunteered to go and so did Merle.

"Whoa wait up brother!" Trix said the second Merle volunteered to go. "Everyone else has got permission from their families, you don't." She told him, glaring slightly.

"I'm the oldest, I'll do whatever I damn well please with or without your say so." Merle said, glaring back fiercely. Daryl looked like he wanted to say something too which Merle noticed. "What, you two think you can stop me? Well come on! If you think you're tough enough!" Merle told them. He meant it too. If they wanted to try and stop him from doing something they had to actually stop him. They'd done it a couple of times, stopped him, but only by helping each other. They couldn't beat him one on one and at that moment they really didn't want to try to fight Merle at all. He was still ticked from earlier and would take them down with ease and with quite a bit of pain. "That's what I thought." Merle said when he knew his siblings weren't going to try anything.

"Who says we'll let you go with them, Merle?" Shane asked, his hands on his hips and a glare on his face. Everyone knew he didn't trust the oldest Dixon and everyone knew he was constantly suspicious of the younger two.

"They'll need me." Merle said simply. He sounded arrogant but that wasn't uncommon for him.

Shane looked doubtful. Merle looked to his siblings and ordered them with his eyes alone to back him up. Daryl and Trix exchanged looks before deciding individually that it was in their best interest to not disobey Merle. "He's not lyin'." Daryl spoke up for the first time since the meeting started. "He's a great shot, ex military. Give him a gun, especially one with a scope, and he'll kill any of those damn things that come at ya." He told the others.

"He's got plenty of muscle too which your little group doesn't have enough of." Trix said. Merle smiled smugly at having both of his siblings on his side. Trix shot him a disapproving look before turning back to the others. "He'll be able to carry more than the rest of you which is the whole point of sendin' more people, to get more supplies." She told them. That settled it, Merle was allowed to go. Everyone separated to get ready for the supplies run which they decided would happen the next day. Trix followed her brothers back to their tent and shoved Merle the second they were out of eye and ear shot. "What the hell Merle? What sparked this death wish, huh?" Trix asked furiously, careful to keep her voice down so no one would overhear.

Merle grabbed the front of her shirt and threw her back, glaring the whole time. Trix stumbled back and glared when she was stable again but didn't try to shove her brother again; thinking she kind of deserved it for shoving him in the first place. "Now you listen here missy, I've got a plan. So stop with your bullshit." Merle told her, pointing at her. Why did pointing always make people seem more serious? Trix thought it was weird.

"What's your plan?" Daryl asked. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of Merle of having a plan or not.

Merle grinned and stepped forward, placing himself close enough to them that he could hush his voice just slightly and not be overheard. "We've been here too long. These people are gonna to kick us out and they're gonna do it soon. They don't want us around anymore no matter how useful we are to them." Merle told them. Trix and Daryl glanced at each other, knowing it was true. Today was proof of that. The group was just looking for a reason to kick them out. "I say we help them get supplies, steal them blind when the time is right, and high tail it out of here. On our own terms." Merle said.

Trix wasn't sure about that part. Leaving on their own terms sounded good and leaving when there were more supplies for them to be given was a good idea but stealing from these people? That didn't set right with her. They'd stolen as kids but that was back when life didn't depend on how many cans of food you had. Stealing now could mean death for the people who got stolen from. Food, water, toilet paper, clothes. Everything was limited. You only had so much and if you lost it you were screwed. They'd almost been screwed when Shane and the others found them. They'd saved them. Trix didn't feel right stealing from people who'd saved them.

"Oh come on!" Merle said in exasperation when he saw the hesitation on his siblings' faces. "We've been here for two weeks and barely talked to any of them. We don't _know_ them and we don't _trust_ them. Our survival should be more important to you than theirs." He said angrily. Trix shifted her weight from foot to foot, she still didn't want to do it. Merle glared at his siblings for a minute or two, waiting for them to speak. They didn't. "We're doin' it. Got that? Either one of you tries to stop me or doesn't go through with it and I'll leave ya behind." Merle told them. With that, Merle turned and marched into their tent.

Daryl turned to Trix. "He's right. We don't even get along with any of them, not really." He said. He didn't exactly like the idea of thieving from these people either but Merle was right in a lot of ways.

"Our lives are more important." Trix said in agreement. The words left a bad taste in her mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

Trix was awake when Shane came to get Merle for the supply run. She had been for a few hours, woken up by a nightmare, and hadn't been able to get to sleep since. She didn't have the nightmares often, just when something was troubling her severely, but they still annoyed her to the point of fury. She always felt like a child who was too weak to handle her own problems when she had the nightmares. It didn't help that sometimes she woke up and felt like sobbing cause the nightmares bothered her so much. Trix didn't like feeling weak and that's why she got mad when she had nightmares. They made her feel weak. Weak, weak, weak.

"Hey, wake your brothers for me. Merle's supposed to be heading out soon and I want to talk to you and Daryl. Alright?" Shane said when Trix was no longer pointing an arrow at him. She'd freaked slightly, thinking he was a Walker, and grabbed her weapon. It was a good thing she'd been careful and not loosed her arrow the second he stuck his head through the flap, killing the leader would have definitely gotten them kicked out.

"Yeah sure." Trix said distractedly, putting her bow and arrow down. After changing quickly, she crawled across the floor to Daryl whose sleeping pallet was just a foot or so from hers. She grabbed her brother's shoulder and shook it. "Daryl? Come on brother, wake up." She said as she shook him. He opened his eyes and grunted at her. "Come on, get up. Shane wants us." She told him. He grunted again and sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Trix crawled over to Merle who was the closest to the tent entrance and grabbed both his shoulders. "Up Merle. You have to go on the supplies run, remember?" She said just a bit louder than she had when waking Daryl. She shook Merle a lot more too. The oldest Dixon had always been a very heavy sleeper and it was always hard to wake him. The drugs didn't help; they made it practically impossible to wake him. "Merle!" Tamara shook him violently but all he did was grumble.

Daryl placed a hand on her shoulder. "Here, let me. You go on out." He told her. Trix was already dressed so she didn't mind leaving. She gave her brother a small nod before climbing out of the tent. As she walked over to the group waiting by the RV she heard a loud thump which was followed a moment later by Merle yelling. She laughed as she walked and didn't care that she got odd looks from the others when they saw her grinning.

A few minutes later Daryl and Merle came walking over. Merle had his gun with him along with his hunting knife. That bothered Trix slightly. He usually left the gun behind in the truck or in the tent unless he really thought he was going to need it. She assured herself that he probably wouldn't actually need it, that it was just a precaution since they were going into the city. Shane eyed the gun in Merle's hand and she knew he was thinking he didn't like the sight of one of the most dangerous men in the camp carrying a gun.

"Why you need me and Trix?" Daryl asked. He had planned on being woken up by Merle before he headed off to Atlanta but he hadn't expected Shane to need them. He'd been hoping to sleep in just for a little while but now that hope was gone.

"I wanted to see if you two would go on a hunting trip. We've run out of everything you caught last time." Shane told them.

Trix looked over at Daryl who gave her the smallest of nods to say he was fine with going out. She then glanced over at Merle who wasn't giving her a "oh hell no" look which meant they had permission to go. "If you want anythin' good, you'll give us today and half of tomorrow." Trix informed the cop. He looked hesitant, like he really didn't want them gone that long. Yeah, like he would be so upset if they were out in the forest hunting instead of picking fights for a day and a half. "Supply runs typically only take a day so by the time we get back they'll be back too. I think everyone can survive a night on whatever they pick up in Atlanta." Trix said, trying to convince the man that it was a good idea to let them out a little longer than he was comfortable with.

For a moment Shane looked thoughtful but then he nodded. "Alright but be back as soon as possible. You don't want to get lost out there." He told them.

Daryl chuckled and Trix smirked. "Wouldn't be the first time we got lost in the woods." Trix commented. Daryl shot her a knowing smile laced with amusement. Shane looked at them in a slightly scolding way and Trix rolled her eyes. "Don't you worry Shane, we'll be careful. We know you'll be so upset over our deaths and not just because we provide most of your meals." The youngest Dixon said sarcastically. Trix reached around Daryl and clapped a hand on Merle's shoulder. "Be careful big brother. I don't feel like diggin' your fat ass a grave." She told him before turning and walking back towards their tent to get her stuff.

"Always am little sister. I'll be seein' you and Darlina tomorrow." Merle said, loud enough for her to hear as she walked away.

"Don't call me that Merle." Daryl grumbled as he turned away from his brother. He hit Merle on the shoulder, silently saying "see you later." Merle just laughed at him. Daryl shook his head and sped up to catch up with their sister.

Trix waited till they were back at their tent and gathering their hunting supplies before saying anything. "I really hope he isn't high." She said, half to Daryl and half to herself. "He's goin' to get himself killed if he is." Daryl didn't say a word, just loaded up his crossbow as he thought the exact same thing.


	5. Chapter 5

Merle watched as the idiot that had been in the tank raced away, towards the alley the little Chinaman had told him to go to. The guy had attracted every damn geek in the city and he was still doing so by firing off shots like he was. Merle watched him through the scope of his gun, making bets with himself over which of the Walkers would grab the guy first. He kept his finger far from the trigger so he wouldn't accidentally fire. He'd told the pansies now downstairs that he wasn't going to waste his hard earned bullets on saving some retard who they didn't even know.

Despite Merle's expectations, the guy got to the alley where the Chinaman was and climbed up to temporary safety. Merle turned his attention back on the Walkers below. There were too many of them now, they'd never get out if they followed that Chinaman's orders. Merle could get them out, or at least him, if he was in charge. He'd have to get them up here somehow so he could tell them exactly what was going to happen. The idiot had already attracted every Walker in the city with his gunfire so there was no real harm in firing off a few shots of his own. Merle smiled slightly as he lined up a shot and fired.

Trix heard the screams first. "Sounds like the kids." She told her brother, her eyes searching for any sign of the camp nearby. She knew they were close but how close? No matter what, they were lucky. The deer they had shot had run up towards the camp to die. "It sounded like just them, not any of the others. Do you think they ran into a Walker?" Trix asked her brother.

Daryl sighed as he stood up, looking away from the deer tracks he'd been examining. He stopped and listened, picking up on the sounds of panicked talking. "Don't know, haven't seen a Walker up here in ages." He knew what it meant if there was one though. It meant the camp was getting less safe. Maybe Merle really was right about having to leave soon. "We might as well check it out. The deer went that way anyway." Daryl said, starting to walk towards the sounds.

They heard voices just a few seconds later and headed towards them. When they came around a particularly thick bush they didn't expect to find Shane pointing a gun at them. Trix started to lift her bow and point an arrow at him until he lowered his gun. The Dixon siblings relaxed slightly until they saw their deer lying on the ground, mangled by a Walker.

"Son of a bitch!" The Dixon siblings said at the same time, both instantly furious. "That's our deer!" Daryl continued as they walked towards their dead deer. Trix shook her head angrily as they walked around towards the deer's flank. Daryl went the other way though, towards the Walker. "Aw look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease bearing, motherless, poxy bastard!" With each insult Daryl kicked the Walker, taking his anger out on it. Trix yanked her arrows out of the deer's flank as he spoke, being none too gentle about it. She'd been hoping for a good dinner for once but no! A fucking Walker had come and eaten their damn deer! Why the fuck did nothing ever work out for them?!

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Dale said.

Trix shot the man a death glare as she straightened back up and Daryl stormed over to him. "What do you know about it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?" Daryl asked the man angrily, getting in his face like he usually did when he was trying to shut someone up. Shane kept him from getting too close though by placing his gun between Dale and Daryl.

"Calm the fuck down Shane. Daryl wasn't gonna hurt him." Trix said furiously, glaring viciously at the former cop. She couldn't stand how that dick took every chance he could to threaten or insult her brothers or her. "Now we have a fucking right to be pissed off. Do you know how long we've been tracking this deer?" Trix said, changing the subject of her own accord. Daryl yanked his arrow out of the deer's flank and the sound the arrow made as it was pulled out of the bloody flesh made more than one of the men make a disgusted face. "Miles! And after all that hard work we find it chewed on by a fucking Walker!" Trix kicked the dead body herself then, needing to vent out some of her own anger. She noticed then a new guy among them but she didn't say anything, he was just another guy to her.

"We were gonna drag it back to camp and cook us up some venison." Daryl said when he was sure his sister was done talking. She was grumbling to herself about how much difficulty they had had following the deer, earning annoyed looks from Shane. Daryl didn't really appreciate the guy giving his sister looks like that but figured since it wasn't a threatening look he could let it slid this one time. "What do you think? Can we cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl asked the men, pointing with his arrow to the area the Walker had devoured.

"I would not risk that." Shane said, not even looking at Daryl as he spoke. Trix glared at him, he always acted like he was above them. Like he was too good to look at them or talk to them in any way besides giving them orders.

"That's a damn shame." Daryl said, staring down at the deer they could have eaten that night. It would have been a good dinner. Oh well, they could survive without it. "We got some squirrel, about two dozen. That'll have to do." He told the others. Trix adjusted the rope of squirrels hanging from her shoulder, bothered by the extra weight to her back. She'd put up with it though cause that's what she needed to do. Food was more important than comfort.

There was a snapping noise and Daryl jumped back slightly, startled just a bit. Trix looked towards his feet and saw that the disconnected Walker head was still alive. The idiots hadn't smashed its brain like they should have. Trix made a disgusted sound and took a step back, not wanting her ankle to get bit or anything. Andrea and Amy left, too disgusted to stick around, and Trix rolled her eyes at them for being pansies. Daryl loaded up an arrow.

"Come on people, what the hell?" Daryl said, taking a step back towards the Walker head. He pointed his crossbow at it and fired, sending an arrow straight through the Walker's eye and into its brain. Immediately the thing stopped snapping its teeth. Daryl walked over to it and yanked his arrow out, placing a foot against the Walker head so it'd come straight out. "It's gotta be the brain." Daryl said as he started to walk back towards camp. Trix followed after him and smirked when he accused the men of not knowing how to kill Walkers. "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! We got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up!" Daryl called out to their brother as they walked into camp. He placed his crossbow down on one of the logs everyone usually sat down on during dinner and Trix put her bow down beside it, slipping her quiver off as well.

Trix looked around for their brother but couldn't spot him. "Come on Merle! You haven't seen us in almost two days!" She said, smiling. Everyone else was back which meant the supply run had gone well. Merle was safe then. Now the only thing she had to worry about was Walkers and their impending betrayal of the camp.

"Daryl, Trix, slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane said as he put his gun into his jeep.

The Dixon siblings stopped and looked at Shane. Immediately, Trix had a bad feeling. Shane looked like he was preparing to say something bad. Very bad. He was rubbing his jaw in the way he usually did before delivering bad news to someone. "About what?" Daryl asked. He could tell something was wrong too. Half the time Shane was an open book, like right now.

"About Merle." Shane told them. Trix felt her chest slowly start to constrict. "There was a…There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said.

Everyone in camp was there, staring at them. Waiting. They probably wanted to see if they'd start crying or something. "Is he dead?" Daryl asked. That was the first thing you assumed in this world, that everyone you loved or cared about was dead. The Dixons were no exceptions; if something went wrong they assumed the worst.

"We're not sure." Shane said.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl said angrily. Trix could feel her grip on the arrows still in her hand tighten considerably, like she was ready to stab someone. She _was _ready to stab someone.

"There's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it." The new guy said, walking towards them.

Daryl turned his attention on the man but Trix was staring at the ground. She was starting to shake just a bit, her anger starting to show through. What the hell did Shane mean when he said they didn't know? How could they not know? Merle was here wasn't he? Couldn't they just check on him? "Who are you?" Daryl asked the new guy furiously.

"Rick Grimes." The man answered. Trix wasn't so deep in anger yet that she didn't hear him. The last name was very familiar and she glanced over at Lori. So, her husband was alive after all. Trix wondered briefly if that had put a wrench in Lori's sex relationship with Shane and figured by the way Lori was pointedly not looking at Shane that yes it had.

"Rick Grimes." Daryl repeated mockingly. Trix could hear in his voice how he was steadily getting angrier and angrier. "You got something you want to tell us?" Daryl asked angrily, gesturing between him and his sister.

Rick didn't hesitate to tell them. "Your brother was a danger to us all so I handcuffed him on a roof. Hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." He said, surprisingly calm. Big mistake. He should have been more fearful of the Dixon siblings.

Trix was shaking now and she felt the tears she had been holding back for when they said Merle was definitely dead completely disappear. Merle wasn't there. He was on a roof, handcuffed to metal which meant no escape. No escape in a city full of Walkers. Daryl turned away and wiped a bit of sweat out of his eye. "Hold on. Let me process this." He said almost mockingly. "You're saying you handcuffed our brother to a roof and left him there?!" He shouted.

Rick nodded. "Yes." He answered.

Daryl attacked Rick then but Shane shoved him to the ground. The men were so distracted by Daryl that they didn't notice that Trix had dropped the squirrels she was carrying to the ground and was now holding her arrows like knives. She lunged at Rick who just barely managed to step back in time. Daryl was on his feet again, his hunting knife in hand. He slashed at Rick's neck but missed. Trix aimed to stab Rick between his neck and his shoulder but she was yanked back onto her ass. Rick caught Daryl's knife hand and held his arm against his side, stopping him from being able to try and stab him again. Trix shot back to her feet but she was grabbed again by the same person who had pulled her down, Morales. The Mexican guy. He wrapped an arm around her neck and shoulders and grabbed the wrist to the hand she had her arrows in. He forced her arm out, far away from her. T-Dog came up and forced her arrows out of her hand just as Shane was pulling Daryl to the ground in a chokehold. Morales released her for a split second before wrapping his arms around her torso in a bear hug, trapping her arms against the sides of her body.

"Let the fuck go of me you dick!" Trix shouted, fighting hard to get loose. She lifted her legs up and bent them before shoving her feet back into Morales thighs. He yelled out in pain and dropped her. Trix landed painfully on her knees and grunted out in pain. She tried to scramble to her feet but Rick came over and shoved his boot down on her back. "Get! Off! You left our brother for dead! We have every right to attack your ass!" Trix shouted as she moved her arms beneath her. She was about to push up and send his foot flying off of her but before she got the chance he placed his boot down on the back of her neck, making sure she couldn't move without seriously hurting herself.

"Listen!" Rick said, silencing the angry noises coming from the Dixon siblings. Trix could just see her brother being held by Shane in a chokehold with her face stuck in the dirt. "I would like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" When neither of the Dixon siblings answered, Rick pressed his boot down just a tad harder on Trix's neck and glared just a bit more at Daryl. "Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked again.

Trix looked toward her brother. She didn't want to have a calm discussion about shit but that was probably the only way they'd get any information about Merle. If they tried to attack Rick again they'd have everyone on their backs trying to stop them. They couldn't take on everyone all by themselves without getting hurt. Maybe with Merle but not alone. Besides, Rick was probably the only one who properly knew what had happened to their brother. Killing him wouldn't help them. Daryl was thinking along the same lines as Trix and eventually he nodded, making a sound of agreement. Trix didn't nod but said yes as best she could with half her lips and a whole cheek shoved into the dirt.

Rick calmly removed his boot from Trix's neck and she scrambled to her feet, spitting dirt that had got into her mouth out onto the ground. Shane released Daryl a bit harsher than needed and Daryl got up, moving over to his sister immediately. Daryl examined the back of his sister's neck as she spat out dirt and glowered at Morales and T-Dog. When he deemed that the worst Rick had done to his sister was give her a red mark he turned his eyes on her knees. They weren't bleeding as far as he could tell but the way she was gently prodding them said that the drop had hurt. She wasn't too beat up though so he simply pat her on the shoulder and glared over at Rick. Trix spat out the last bit of dirt from her mouth before turning her own glare on Rick. They were furious, shaking slightly and breathing heavily, but they'd listen to the man. At least until he pissed them off again.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick told them calmly. "Your brother does not work or play well with others."

"Yeah, way to say the obvious there Officer Dickhead." Trix said furiously. Daryl had his hand resting on her shoulder and he gave her a small warning squeeze. As much as he wanted her to punch Rick in the face he knew they couldn't start a fight again until they knew everything that had happened. "Still isn't a good reason for leaving him to die." Trix said, keeping her tone furious but not furious enough to make it seem like she was about to attack Rick again.

"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog said, drawing their attention to him. Trix eyed her arrows in his hand and wanted them back immediately. "I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog told them.

Daryl's grip on Trix's shoulder tightened but this time it was out of anger instead of warning. "You couldn't have picked it up?" Daryl asked furiously.

"Well I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog explained.

Trix took a step forward to punch T-Dog but she stopped when she saw the former police take a step towards her. She glowered at them then let out an angry sound before angrily ripping away from her brother and starting to storm away, towards the end of the RV. Daryl recognized this as one of his sister's tactics for trying to keep herself from fighting someone so he didn't mind how she just abruptly left him standing on his own. Trix was a lot like Merle when it came to anger but she could handle it better, she had had to learn to when she realized she couldn't beat every guy she decided to get into a fight with. Daryl felt restless so he walked around a bit too, needing to wear down his angry energy somehow.

"If that's supposed to make us feel better it don't." Daryl said angrily.

"Well maybe this will." T-Dog said. Trix glanced over from where she'd stopped by the end of the RV, not wanting to miss whatever T-Dog was going to say next. It had to be a good thing, right? Or else T-Dog wouldn't say that. She was leaning heavily against the RV, trying her damndest not to smash her hand or foot by punching or kicking it. "I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock." T-Dog said.

"That's got to count for something." Rick said.

"It doesn't!" Trix shouted furiously as she stormed back over. She went to get into T-Dog's face but Daryl saw how Rick tensed up in preparation to grab her and he stopped her by placing his arm between her and T-Dog. "Enough of those things could break that damn chain! They could get at him! And what does Merle have to protect himself?! I bet you didn't leave him a damn thing!" Trix shouted as Daryl slowly pushed her back. Trix was shaking so bad and furious tears were stinging her eyes. "What's my brother supposed to do, huh? Is he supposed to fight them with his fucking feet?!" That was it. There were tears on her cheeks now. Trix let out an enraged sound and wiped them away, storming back over to her bow as she did. Daryl followed her and grabbed his crossbow as she grabbed her bow, wiping his eye again as he went. Trix realized then he was crying too just not as much as her. It made her feel a bit better about the furious tears still sliding down her cheeks.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Rick asked them.

"To get our damn brother!" Trix shouted as she slung her quiver onto her back. Her voice cracked with tears as she spoke, something she hated. T-Dog cautiously walked over and put her arrows down on the log beside her. She snatched them up; grunting as she did in what could have been thanks.

"Tell us where he is so we can go get him." Daryl said, turning back to look at Rick. He had his crossbow in one hand and the arrows he'd yet to clean in the other.

Rick didn't get a chance to answer. His wife did it for him, saying he was going to show them. Rick agreed then headed towards his tent to grab something or other. Trix glanced at her brother before pulling a rag from her back pocket and wiping the deer blood from her arrows. She'd only used the two during the whole hunt so they were the only ones she had to clean. The rag was enough to get the blood off but she'd have to clean them a bit more thoroughly later.

A few minutes later, after everyone had slowly gone back to doing whatever they had been doing before the kids screamed, Rick came out of his tent. Shane started arguing with him immediately. "Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked. It was the first bit of the argument that either Dixon had actually heard and it angered them immediately.

"Hey! Choose your words more carefully." Daryl said threateningly.

"No I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane said. Trix glared furiously at him but let him get away with the insult cause he was kind of right. "Merle Dixon." Shane said with disgust. "Guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

Rick was too busy replying to notice the look the younger two Dixons exchanged. Shane wasn't wrong. Merle was incredibly selfish, he kept everything for himself cause he didn't want to help others out. He believed that you shouldn't help someone unless you were getting something out of it. Trix grabbed Daryl's arm and pulled him over to where everyone was sitting by the firewood. She sat him down and tossed him his red rag which he'd dropped by accident near the wood. He started cleaning his arrows while Trix stared off at Atlanta, mentally preparing a plan to save their brother. She didn't come out of her thoughts until she realized Rick had said that Glenn was basically going to be calling the shots.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk four men, huh?" Shane asked furiously.

"Five." T-Dog corrected, throwing his life into the mix.

Daryl made an angry sound. "My day just keeps getting better and better, don't it?" He asked no one in particular. Trix squeezed his shoulder then turned her eyes on Shane.

"Hey Shane, do I look like a man to you?" Trix asked the cop while Daryl and T-Dog continued to talk. Shane didn't answer but she glared. "Don't call me a guy. I don't want to be coupled in with your moronic gender." Trix told him angrily. Her comments when mostly unnoticed though seeing as the main focus was on T-Dog and Daryl.

"That's five." Dale commented, ending the conversation between the two men.

"It's not just five." Shane said angrily. He stared at Rick, somehow managing to glare with just his eyes. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick." He said, obviously trying to guilt trip Rick into staying. "Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back; we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp." Shane told his friend. Trix had to admit he was right but right then she really didn't care about anyone else. Her brothers were and always had been the most important people in her life. She would protect and care for them first, above all else.

"It seems to me what you really need most here is more guns." Rick commented.

Trix lost all interest in the conversation then. Guns had never been her thing though she was close to an expert at firing them. Besides, she didn't care if Rick managed to convince everyone that he should go. Her and Daryl, when he was ready, were going to go no matter what. Having more than just them was a good idea but they didn't care if it did just end up being them. They'd figure it out. They'd save Merle with or without help.

"We're taking the truck we brought back with us. Glenn, can you back it up near the RV?" Rick finally said when he was allowed to go. Glenn nodded and they all started walking towards the truck.

"'bout damn time." Trix said as she followed after the men. Daryl followed after her, loading up an arrow into his crossbow as he did.

Glenn backed the truck up while Rick and T-Dog went to talk to Dale about tools. Daryl and Trix stood off to the side, both fixated on putting their remaining arrows away. Trix looked down into her quiver once she had put away her arrows to make sure she had stabbed them deep enough into the self healing foam she kept at the bottom so the arrows wouldn't move or fall out. She smiled slightly when she had deemed them all firmly locked in place before pulling her quiver back on. She made sure it was secure, her eyes drifting back to the city again.

"Come on." Daryl said, nudging his sister's arm. She nodded and followed him to the truck. She started to get in but her knee suddenly hurt _bad_ when she bent it to step into the back of the truck. She let out a small noise of pain and slipped, nearly hitting her face on the back end of the truck before Daryl caught her. "You okay there baby sister?" He asked her, sounding a tad worried.

"Knees. Hit 'em just a bit too hard on the ground." Trix explained as she rubbed the ache out of her knees. She bent her legs one at a time a couple of times; trying to see if the pain was going to keep her from moving properly. She bent each one a little quicker then gave her brother a reassuring smile. "Seem okay. They shouldn't mess me up too bad." She told her brother.

Daryl looked a tad doubtful so Trix climbed up into the truck to prove she was fine. Her knees ached a bit but other than that she was fine. Daryl stared at her, wondering if she was masking any pain. He didn't want to bring her along if she wasn't at her best. What if she moved wrong and one of her knees gave out? And what if they had to run? Would her knees stop her from getting away? Daryl wasn't going to let his sister die. The guilt would eat him alive and Merle would more than likely kill him. Trix seemed to notice that he was considering sending her back cause she glared at him until he got into the truck. Daryl mentally assured himself that she was fine and that he wouldn't be able to convince her to stay even if she wasn't. Trix was one of the most stubborn people the world had ever created.

"They're taking too long." Daryl said, walking to the front of the truck. He put his crossbow down behind the passenger seat before using his foot to kick the truck's horn a couple of times. "Come on let's go!" He shouted as he walked back to Trix.

Roughly ten minutes later they were driving towards Atlanta. Trix stayed tucked up near her brother, silently praying to anything still listening that their brother was okay. She barely registered Daryl threatening T-Dog and didn't speak until Glenn suddenly stopped the truck. "We walk from here." Glenn told them.

Daryl got out first, opening the back of the truck and jumping out without hesitation. Trix jumped out after him and winced slightly when her knees ached badly. Daryl saw her wince but didn't say anything because when she started following him down the train tracks she looked fine. He assured himself again that she'd be okay. She always was. Just like Merle always was.

Surprisingly, it didn't take them that long to get to the store Merle was at (after an argument about whether to get Merle or the guns first which pissed both Dixons off.) The Dixon siblings had to admit that they couldn't have gotten them there as quickly or as well as Glenn did. They didn't tell the guy that though, couldn't if they wanted to. There were still Walkers in the store which became extremely apparent when a female Walker came wandering towards them. Daryl killed it immediately and they were able to finally go get Merle.

Trix was right behind Daryl the whole time they raced up the stairs. "Hurry up! Hurry!" Trix whispered harshly to the others. The longer they took to get to the roof the longer Merle was stuck up on the roof. He probably had sun stroke by now or at the very least heat sickness. He'd been high too, Trix was sure of it, when he left them so he was probably even worse off.

"Calm down. We're almost there." Rick said as they climbed up the stairs. Trix grunted at him but didn't say anything else.

They reached the door and T-Dog came forward with the bolt cutters. He snapped the chain and Daryl kicked open the door. Daryl called out for their brother as he ran through and Trix did the same, just as eager to get their brother back as he was. They ran across the roof, thinking he had to be on the other side on the ground since they couldn't see him. What they saw when they got to the pipe made them stop.

Trix felt like someone had slammed into her with a truck. She started shaking and tears immediately sprang to her eyes. Daryl was yelling, his face was red, and there were tears in his eyes. Trix thought she heard herself repeating her brother's name and the single defiant word "no" over and over again but she wasn't sure if she was actually speaking. She was too…she couldn't even describe what she was feeling. Trix let out an enraged heartbroken sound and nearly dropped to her knees.

Their brother wasn't there. In his place was a bloody saw, handcuffs still attached to the pipe, and a severed hand in a pool of blood.


	6. Chapter 6

Trix wiped at her eyes, there was no use crying. Merle was gone but that meant Walkers hadn't gotten to him. If Walkers hadn't gotten to him that meant he had a way to escape. Merle was tough as hell; if he was off the roof then he was alive. Maybe not thriving but definitely alive. That meant they could get to him. So now wasn't the time for crying. Now was the time for finding their brother. And getting mad.

Daryl had his crossbow pointed at T-Dog before Trix could get an arrow notched. She was going to point the arrow at T-Dog but when Rick pointed his gun at her brother's head she changed her target. Trix aimed for Rick's temple and wiped her eyes on her arm again. Apparently her tears weren't done flowing. "Put the gun down. Put it down or I'm putting an arrow through your damn head." Trix growled furiously at the cop.

"Try it. Won't stop me from firing." Rick said, looking over at her. Trix didn't lower her bow but she didn't let loose her arrow either. Daryl glanced over at her and saw the hesitation in her eyes before he turned his attention back to T-Dog. He didn't like the feeling of a gun pressed against his temple and it made him itch. "I won't hesitate." Rick said, speaking to Daryl now. "I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it." The cop said.

Daryl was shaking and he could feel tears stinging his eyes again. He lowered his crossbow and looked at the ground, trying to calm down. When he looked back up he met his sister's gaze. She glanced at Rick then back at him. When he shook his head she lowered her bow, gently relaxing the bowstring till she was holding her bow and arrow in a completely nonthreatening way. Or as nonthreatening as Trix Dixon could get. That was when Rick removed the gun from Daryl's head, uncocking it as he did.

Daryl struggled for a moment to calm down but when he did he managed to speak without his voice cracking. "Do you got a do-rag or somethin'?" He asked T-Dog. T-Dog didn't say anything, just pulled one out of his pocket. He handed it to Daryl who took it immediately and walked over to where Merle's hand was lying on the rooftop. He knelt down, laid out the do-rag, and picked Merle's hand up by the ring finger. "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch." Daryl said as he examined Merle's cut off hand. Trix felt a bit sick at the sight of the pale bloodless hand being held up to the light but she kept the small meal of jerky she'd consumed the day before in her stomach. Daryl placed the hand down on the rag and carefully folded it up. Once the whole hand was wrapped up to his satisfaction he walked over to Glenn and placed the hand in his backpack.

"How the hell did he manage to do this?" Trix asked her brother, her eyes focused on the pool of blood. It was still pretty fresh, just a bit of it dry. Merle couldn't have lost his hand more than maybe half an hour ago. Maybe less. "There's barely any blood. I know Merle's a tough son of a bitch but even he bleeds like a normal person." Trix said, chuckling slightly though she wasn't amused by what she'd said. It was more of a reflex, a tiny release of the hysteria building up in her. She needed her brother back and she needed him back now. The three of them weren't supposed to be separated like this for this long. Not again.

"Must have used a tourniquet. Maybe his belt. There'd be much more blood if he didn't." Daryl told her. He looked back at her and smirked slightly. "If you had been paying attention during Merle's little teachin' sessions maybe you'd remember that." He said jokingly. Trix smiled slightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Merle had been their main teacher in life when they were kids and he'd practically raised them…when he was actually there that is. He'd taught them everything he thought was useful even before he came back from being dishonorably discharged from the army. He'd drilled every skill he could think of into their brains including tracking and how to cut off limbs without killing the person the limb was attached to.

"Hey I paid attention. That should have been clear by how many times he got onto me for askin' questions while he was talkin'." Trix told her brother. Daryl smirked slightly before turning his eyes back on the ground. He noticed a blood trail and gestured for at least Trix to follow him. She did and, surprisingly, the others followed too. Albeit a little slower and reluctantly but still. They followed the blood to an open door on the other side of the roof. Daryl had his crossbow ready the whole time and Trix had an arrow ready to be launched into a Walker's face. They arrived at some stairs and started going down them.

"Merle! You in here?!" Daryl called down the stairs. There was no reply but they rushed down them anyways. Trix didn't know what the building's former use was originally but eventually they stumbled upon an office making her think that maybe it was an office building. There was a Walker inside with a missing jaw that Daryl put down immediately. They followed the still prominent blood trail to another much larger room, a break room maybe, where two Walkers lay dead on the floor. "Had enough in him to kill these two sons of bitches. One handed." Daryl said, impressed.

"With a wrench." Trix added, pointing to the tool lying beside the second Walker.

"Toughest asshole we've ever met, our brother." Daryl told the three men behind them as he reloaded his crossbow. "Feed him a hammer and he'd crap out nails." Trix snorted and nodded her head in agreement.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss no matter how tough he is." Rick said as he walked ahead of them.

Trix rolled her eyes as she followed after the cop. "Not our brother." She said as they walked. She kept a weather eye out for Walkers but mostly she focused on Rick. She wasn't entirely sure if she hated him or not yet. Whatever she thought of him it was definitely closer to hate than like. He'd handcuffed her brother to a fucking roof for crying out loud! And now her brother was one handed. Permanently. There were no prosthetics anymore; he'd never be able to use two hands again. "Merle's smart. He won't let himself pass out from this." She said, extremely confident that she was right.

They continued to follow the blood trail and eventually Daryl and Trix were ahead of everyone else. "Merle!" Daryl called out as they entered a new room.

"We're not alone here. Remember?" Rick said furiously.

"Screw that." Daryl said, glancing around for any Walkers that could have heard them. "He could be bleedin' out. You said it yourself." He told the cop before following the blood. Trix followed after him but walked backwards so she could see if any Walkers snuck up on them. She had her bowstring pulled back but she kept her arrow pointed at the ground so she wouldn't accidentally kill someone she didn't want to. Daryl tapped her arm a few seconds later and she turned to see a fire going on a stove and Merle's belt.

Rick picked up what looked like an old fashioned iron from the stove top and looked at it. There was something burned onto it, something that made Trix want to gag. "What's that burnt stuff?" Glenn asked. He sounded a bit scared.

"Skin." Rick answered. "He cauterized the stump." He explained a moment later.

Trix stared at the fire and the burnt flesh, remembering the amputating lesson Merle had given her and Daryl. He'd explained about how sometimes people went into shock when their wounds were cauterized but others could tough it out. Obviously, Merle had toughed it out. "Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." Daryl told the cop.

"Don't take that on faith." Rick told them. Trix glared at him, they weren't taking it on faith. They knew Merle was too stubborn to die and too strong to be killed. "He's lost a lot of blood." Trix didn't think that mattered. Merle had lost enough blood to be rendered pretty weak and yet he'd taken down two Walkers and cauterized his wound without passing out. If he could survive all that there was no way he wasn't alive right now.

"Yeah?" Daryl said, his eyes focused on a window across the room. "Didn't stop him from breaking out of this death trap." He said, walking towards the window. Trix followed him and saw that the glass was busted out of one of the panes. Merle had escaped.

"He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?" Glenn asked.

Daryl peered out the window, looking at all the possible places their brother could have gone to. "Why wouldn't he?" He asked before straightening up. "He's out there alone, as far as he knows, doing what you gotta do. Surviving." He said. Merle was like that. When shit hit the fan he went into survival mode. He really would have done great in the army except for the fact that his survival mode did not include trying to get others to survive too.

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog questioned. "Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out. What are his odds out there?" He asked.

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks!" Daryl said angrily. T-Dog and Glenn looked away awkwardly and with at least some degree of shame. Trix couldn't help glaring at them a bit and couldn't help glaring at Rick either when she looked at him. "You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb _dead_ bastard." Daryl said angrily.

"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards? Different story?" Rick asked.

"Why don't you take a tally?" Daryl asked. He wasn't even furious anymore, just ready to go get Merle. The more time they took the longer Merle was on his own, possibly in trouble. "Do what you want. We're gonna go get him." He said.

Daryl started to walk back to the window and Trix went to follow him but Rick stopped them. He placed his hand on Daryl's chest and pushed him back slightly. "Daryl, wait." He said calmly.

"Get your hands off me!" Daryl said furiously before Rick's halting hand was away from him. Glenn shushed him but he went unheard by the angry Dixons and the cop who was trying to make them see reason. "You can't stop me! You can't stop my sister! We're gonna go find our damn brother and you're not gettin' in the way of that!" Daryl told Rick, getting in his face.

"Listen, I don't blame you. Either of you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine, I know how you feel." Rick said. Trix and Daryl grudgingly had to admit that he did actually understand. He was the only one out of the group that had actually had to go looking for their family. He had been through what they were going through now. "He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head." Rick told them.

Daryl looked over at his sister and a silent conversation passed between them that only they could understand. The Dixons had always been able to do that, tell what each other were thinking without words. It was in the expression sometimes and other times they just knew. They were a dysfunctional hot tempered trio but they knew each other. Better than anyone. Finally, Daryl looked back at Rick. "We can do that." He told the cop.

"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" T-Dog told them.

"We can do that too." Trix said without even looking at her brother. She knew he agreed with her. They couldn't go through the city without more than just her and him being able to kill the undead bastards roaming the streets. They'd end up dead and that definitely wouldn't save Merle.

T-Dog looked at her in surprise. "What? You're actually listening to me now?" He asked almost jokingly.

"Shut up." Trix said angrily, instantly glaring. Rick tensed, ready for a fight. Trix didn't know whether it bothered her or not that this guy they'd only known for a day already knew how quick they were to get into fights. "We're not stupid. We know we need the guns so we're getting the guns. We just need a plan." She told the man.

Glenn had been thinking over what to do since T-Dog mentioned the guns and he had a good idea as to what to do. "I've got a plan." He told the group. They turned their attention on him, each one eager for their own reasons to hear what he thought.


End file.
